A Lot of Things Change in a Year or Two

This past Wednesday I visited my choir from high school. Going back to my high school was... Interesting, to say the least. It's fun if you have a friend or two with you, but when it's just you... Things are kinda awkward. Was everyone always so young?

When I was walking down the hall to get a drink of water at the drinking fountain, a bunch of kids in P.E. stared at me like they knew I didn't belong...

Their stares were making me uncomfortable... It's not like I'm 50 years old or anything! I'm 18! Jeez, some of the high school seniors are older than I am!

After I got settled in the auditorium, I listened to the choir rehearse for their concert. During one of the breaks between songs, one of my friends asked me how college was. Uh, after seeing this place again... Where to start?

High school is terrible in comparison to college. That's it. End of story. I'd say I had a pretty good high school experience, but college is SO MUCH BETTER! Just trust me on this one. It's a fact of life!


Anywhooo, last week I e-mailed one of my friends who's been out on his mission for 7 months now. I only wrote him while he was in the MTC, since I figured Madagascar wasn't probably the easiest place to get mail to. Anyway, my friend Claire mentioned him and said that she had e-mailed him, so I thought I should e-mail him too to see how he's doing. When I got his reply, he seemed like a completely different person! 

I was really taken aback! It's crazy how much a mission can change somebody. I mean, given, I hadn't talked to him for 7 months, which is ample time for a person to change. In general though, I think missions seem to change people maturity-wise and spiritually, not so much their personality. That's definitely true for my brother! He changed in some ways, but he still does weird and crazy things. 
A big chunk of his personality could be summarized by this gif (sausage links and all):

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he did something like this:

As a result of the weird things he does (that's often done in public), I tell him:

But he simply responds:

Good point... That's something to strive for! Not caring what other people think :) Haters gonna hate, right?

Anyway, onto news about my dear Elder!

Yesterday my friend Max visited my ward, and we ended up talking about Elder Gibby. It turns out he has relatives in Oaxaca! How awesome is that?! Max told me to tell Elder Gibby that if he comes across them, to convert them! Hahaha :) Too bad they're on the opposite side of Oaxaca that Adam's on right now... But who knows, maybe he'll eventually end up in the area they live! :)

In the e-mail I got today, Elder Gibby told me that it's been the best week of his mission by far!!! He got a new companion who he gets along with REALLY well with. They work really hard together, but still have fun. In 4 days they taught 23 lessons and got 6 new investigators. He loves it!!! Then today he got to play some basketball for the first time on his mission, and he dominated because everyone was pretty bad hahaha. AND it got down to 90 degrees and rained! What a blessing :)

I'm so glad to hear things are going so much better for Elder Gibby. He deserves it after all the hard work he's been putting in! Being successful always helps to give a boost on morale! He seemed to have so much energy, it's so great! Gosh, I'm so excited for him :) :)

812 Days Left! :)